Japantown after the fire, from California Street

Exactly a month after the quake, Obata positioned himself on a downtown street corner to record this view of Japantown (Nihonmachi) after the fires. Of the two neighborhoods where Japanese immigrants lived and worked at this time, the one depicted here was an older area at the edge of Chinatown. The vantage point is probably at the intersection of Grant or Stockton and California streets, where the dome of the eighteen-story Call Building on Market Street rises above the ruins. Between his position and the Call Building lies utter devastation; the rubble speaks of vanished businesses, and many friends missing, injured, homeless, or lost.